After a long absence being busy with my reverse mortgage broker Seniors First, I thought it was high time to provide a ‘state of play’ update for Reverse Mortgage Australia in 2017. I’m pleased to report it’s mostly good news! The reverse mortgage market is perhaps the healthiest it’s been in some years. There are […]

After a long absence being busy with my reverse mortgage broker Seniors First, I thought it was high time to provide a ‘state of play’ update for Reverse Mortgage Australia in 2017. I’m pleased to report it’s mostly good news! The reverse mortgage market is perhaps the healthiest it’s been in some years. There are […]

There are media reports that many senior Australians are now starting to worry about government’s plans for the aged pension and Newstart Allowance revealed in the recent budget. As the Federal Government announces new schemes as part of its $5.1 billion employment service program the unemployed may soon be forced to apply for 40 jobs […]

Lots of ominous sounds coming out of Canberra recently for seniors. Firstly, the treasurer has been dropping big hints that the retirement age will probably rise to 7o years in the May budget. While it won’t affect this generation of retirees, take it as done. The retirement age will go up Generation X and young […]

Funny how attitudes change over time. When I started in the reverse mortgage industry in 2005, there was a widespread (though misinformed) view that reverse mortgages were ‘evil’ or ‘bad’. That the banks would end up ‘taking’ your home, and that spending the kids’ inheritance was selfish, irresponsible & perhaps even immoral. Well not anymore! […]

There’s been lots of talk recently about increases to the aged pension age. Understandably, many seniors are upset. Last week the Productivity Commission, (the government’s independent economic advisory body) released this report about ageing in Australia. It suggests that due to the rapidly ageing population and the huge pressures this will place on the government […]

What started out as a fringe issue in the banking system is quickly developing into a major headache for many Australian pensioners. I’m talking of course about the limited availability of reverse mortgage loans. I last wrote about it HERE, but things are much worse now, and there’s a case to be made that banks […]

With news yesterday that the RBA has cut the cash rate to a record low of 2.5%, many self-funded retirees are now really feeling the pinch. Since the GFC and the rapid decline in both share dividends and term deposit interest rates, self-funded retirees have struggled to generate a return off their investments that is […]

It’s long been known that this generation of senior women have less money for their retirement than their male counterparts. There are several good reasons for this, including the fact that superannuation was only mandated at current levels in 1993. Also, the proportion of women who worked in past generations was much lower than today, […]

After quite a long period in development, ASIC recently released their new reverse mortgage calculator. You can find it HERE. I was part of the industry panel that provided input into this tool, and I have to say I think ASIC have done a great job here. This reverse mortgage calculator is much easier to […]